1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a network server. More specifically, a network server is disclosed that enables a user to use a scanner by downloading the driver for the scanner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The explosion of the Internet has coincided with the rising popularity of portable computing. Many people now prefer to buy laptop computers in lieu of traditional desktop computers for, despite the added expense, being able to carry their computers wherever they go is a great convenience for these users. The introduction of the universal serial bus (USB) standard for linking peripheral devices to computers has further simplified the computing environment. Whereas before the advent of USB a plurality of different connection schemes were used to link, say, various scanner models to a computer, now a single USB port can be used to connect to any type of scanner. This has been of great benefit to the users of portable computers as they may now bring their computers to a remote location and, if a scanner is available and is USB compatible, they can easily connect their computer to the scanner.
Although the scanner and the physical connection may be available at a remote site, the necessary driver software for the scanner may not be. Generally, scanner driver software is resident on the host computer. If the host computer is moved, as is the case for laptop computers, to a new location with a different type of scanner, the driver software will not be able to properly communicate with the different scanner. Thus, though a resource is physically available, it is still unusable. This can be a source of considerable frustration for users.